Divine Mother and Holy Father meet in Rome

Last week at the Vatican a momentous meeting took place, a world changing event, a huge breakthrough in human civilisation: No wonder there is next to no mention in the mainstream media then.

For the first time in history, senior Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Christian figures, along with leaders of the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim religions, met to sign a shared commitment against modern slavery, a point they could all agree on as a crime against humanity.

“We consider any action which does not treat others as equals to be an abhorrent crime,” Pope Francis said. “God is a love that is manifested in every human being; everyone is equal and ought to be afforded the same liberty and dignity.” This statement in itself has massive implications for gay catholics as well as other groups.

Sitting at the Pope’s side during the day was AMMA, Mata Amritanandamayi, the most prominent of Hindu Divine Mother avatars, who runs the biggest operation of humanitarian works on the planet. The representatives of the Holy Father and the Divine Mother together in Rome – surely this has never happened before? A Pope recognising an Indian female guru! But did this group of religious leaders come together and tell the world to put their religious differences behind them? Unfortunately it seems they did not seem to have such courage, or maybe they were just testing the waters with their joint declaration against ‘modern slavery’. SInce religions do not have a great track record of opposing slavery, they probably thought they should get this base covered. Unfortunately their protocol includes prostitution in their defintion of modern slavery, alongside forced labour, human trafficking, even organ trafficking. We should note the significant absence of tantric or pagan figures in this holy line up – ie all the religious leaders assembled are from the ‘ascetic’ side of faith – they believe in overcoming the desires of the body and the mind to attain well-being and health. There is another side to the coin, and until the tantric, body and sex-affirming side of spirituality is properly heard, maybe it’s as well that this historical moment isn’t being hailed as more significant.

The great point however is that they met. Few media outlets consider it important. On the Vatican’s own news service the report of the meeting focusses on the fact that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was there, and Amma doesn’t get a mention, nor do the others. The Telegraph has an online Vatican page but this historical meeting did not get a mention. i couldn’t find anything on the Independent website, but the Guardian featured the gathering: “Seldom if ever has the Vatican seen such a varied gathering. The pope was flanked by a shaven-headed Vietnamese Zen nun, the Venerable Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong, and an Indian holy woman wearing a nose stud, Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi, regarded by her followers as a saint and known to them as Amma, or “mother”.” “Indian holy woman wearing a nose stud’: Amma is so cool!

Perhaps this visit from female religious leaders had an effect on the Pope. A few days after the visit he was on the radio talking about god as mother: “God’s closeness is such that he is presented like a mother, a mother who talks to her baby, and sings lullabies to her baby…This is God’s tenderness. And He expresses his closeness with tenderness: the tenderness of a mother” . Of course it says at the start of Genesis that God made humans ‘male and female – in his image’. God has always been mother easily as much as father, a fact Hindus have never had a problem with, but which the western monotheistic faiths have tried hard to suppress for a very long time.

Amma it seems is still relatively unknown on the world stage, but these pictures put her where she should be, right up there telling the men what’s what. She recently urged that the children of the world all be taught ‘universal human values’: “Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by today’s children. In their tender minds, it is easy to cultivate universal human values. If you walk through a field of soft, green grass a few times, you will quickly make a path; whereas, it takes countless trips to forge a trail on a rocky hillside. The teaching of universal spiritual principles and human values should be a standard part of the general education, not only the responsibility of the family. This should not be delayed any further, for if there is delay, the future generations will be lost to the world.”

I hope those old men of the world’s faiths are listening. The Divine Feminine is back in the world. Mother is Reacting.